Type-writing-machine ribbon-operating mechanism.



J. ALEXANDER. TYPE WRITING MACHINE RIBBON OPERATINGMEGIIANISM. l u APPIIIOATION PI-LED APB.14. 191. 1,()911 79, Patented Mar. 24, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

APPLICATION FILED APR.14, 1913.

Patented Mar. 24, 1914.

3 SHEETS-BEBET 2.

Fig

/yvENra/I Jefe A man der J. ALEXANDER.

TYPE WMTING MACHINE RIBBON' OPERATING MEGHANISM.

APPLIGATIN FILED ABR, 14,-1913.

Patented Mar. 24, 1911.1M

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Fi g.' L

0 Il, y1111er J55 Xander A A S, PATENT OFFICE.

.Tassa ALEXANDER, or `New Yoan, N. Y., assioNoii or ONE-HALF To CHARLES B.

menons, or NEW YORK, Ni Y.

'F"PE"B/ITINGMASNEINE RIBBON -OPERATING MECHANISM.

Loomis.

Specication of Letters latent. Patented Liar, 24:, 1914, Continuation of application Serial No. 664,760, led December 9, 1911.

1913. Serial No. 760,978.

To all whom they concern Be it known that I, Jnssn Annxnlvnnn, a

A citizen of the United States oi' America, and

residing at New York, in the county of Kings and State of New York,.have invented new and useful Improvements in Type- Vriting-Machine Ribbon-Dperating Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My' invention relates particularly to front stroke or visible writing machines. In ma chines of this character the ribbon is usually carried by two spools on opposite sides of the machine and a portion of the ribbon is raised in front of the printing type at 'each stroke of 'the keys. This lifting is done by some form of universal bar action. Then after the stroke of the type the ribbon is fed a short distance so ,as to bring a fresh skurface in front of the next type. This feeding is usually accomplished by means of the universal bar action. The power for shifting and feeding the ribbon is thus derived from the key action.

t is my object to decrease the powerconlsumledn 'the key action and to provide a simple andv yet` reliable mechanism.

Another objectV is to provide a simple means for reversinfr the direction of the feed of the ribbon an spools in placer#- y Briey considered the invention contemplates the 'feeding ofthe ribbon bythe same mechanism which feeds the carriage that is,

the tension drum. The ribbon spools are carried by vertical shafts havng bevel gears at the lower ends. These bevel gears are driven by bevel pinions carried by horizontal shafts. Each horizontal shaft is'in two parts adapted to be connected by means of a clutch, one part of one shaft is connected to the carriage'feedingdrum. The two shafts are connected oy' a suitable belt, cord or chain. A slide having forked cam members is adapted to throw the clutches on the two.

shafts into.` and out of engagement so as -to reverse the direction of feed of `the ribbon.

The cross-slide is operated by' from the front of the machine. ing of the ribbon to the a push rod The shiftprinting point is accomplished by the universal bar action.

The 'principles ofthe inventionv will be understood from the following specication means for holding the vtoothed disk 12 and the rlaccompanying three sheets of draw- 1I1gS- 1 Figure 1, is a vertical longitudinal section of a machine showing the parts embodying This application filed April 14, f

the unprovements of my invention. Fig. 2,

is a front View of the carriage feeding drum showing the. pawl and ratchet for driving the ribbon feed. Fig. 3, is a plan view of a machine embodying the improvements of my invention, the carriage being omitted.

Fig. Il, is a vertical sectional view onthe i` rear track 3 being impelled toward the left' by a suitable formof tension drum 4c and l tension band 5. rIfhe step by step movement from right to left may be controlled by any suitable form of escapement (not shown).

The `form of key and type bar mechanism illustrated herein is claimed in another application #760,979 liled herewith but any suitable form may be employed as the ribbon mechanism is independent of the particularconst-ruction of key' and type bar mech anism, The type bars such as 6 are carried by a type bar .plate 7 and adapted to strikev against the front of the platen 8. The key. levers such as 9 are pivoted in any'suitable :manner and connected to operate the type bars. The intermediate lever 10 which is connected to the key lever 9 is under tension of a spring 11 and its upper end is pivoted to the link 12.' This link is connected to aVV which engages the type bar 6. I The ribbon '13 has its opposite ends tach-ed to the Sl3`001l4A and 15 mounted refill spectively `on the shafts y16 and .17. Adieu` cent the printingposition portedl by a. ,forked guide 1 8 which is adaptl.

to beshi'fted vertically. y yaccomplished by the 'action-of the key levers.

ce Fig. 5, is a 'detail View of one of rThis shifting is. l i

The lower end of the guide-18 is connected to the front end of the lever '19 and the rear A end of the lever is connected by a link 20'to the universal bar 21Whic'h extends 'beneathv thev lingers such as 22 oi the'key levers. Atp'.

the depression of any key lever the universal bar 21 is depressed andthe lever 19 tilted so as to shift lthe guide 18 upward and carry Y the ribbon -in front of the printing position. `When the key lever 9 is released the spring 11 tends to pull the intermediatelever 10 and thus raises the key lever to its normal position raising with it the universal bar 21 and thus retractingl" the ribbon guide 18.`

The bevel gear 25 on the lower end of the 'shaft 16 meshes with bevel pinion 26 on the riage is fed from right to left step by step un'der the control of the escapement, (not shownithe ratchet 29.and ,shaft 28 are rotated in a left-handed or anti-clockwise direction. On' the adjacent ends of the s haftsections 28 and 27 is mounted 'a clutch member in the form of a sleeve 32 A pin 33 which extends through the shaft 28 fits loosely ina slot34 in the sleeve 32. The

,front end of the sleeve 32 has one or more notches, such as notch 35, which in the position shown fits a pin 36 in the shaft. 27. A driving connection is thus established be'- Itween. the tension drum 4 and the bevel pinion 26 so as to rotate the ribbon'spool 14 in a left-'handed or anti-clockwise direction as shown by the arrow inFig. 3. A `helical spring 37 presses against the sleeve 32 and against the collar 38 which is fastened on the shaft 28. The spring thus holds the .clutch sleeve 32 forward in'engagement with the pin 36 on the shaft 27. On the righthand side of themachine is a shaft formed in two parts 40 and 41 adapted to be connected by a clutch. 42 similar to clutch 32 just described. The two shafts 28 and 40 are connected by a cross belt, cord or chain 43 so as to rotate in opposite directions.

On the back of the type bai plate is mounted a rod 44 adapted to slide in order to reverse the ribbon feed. The clutches 32 and 42 have cam-like members 39 and` 45 respectively. The bar 44 has projecting forks or fingers 46 and 47 adap'ted to 'coperate with the members 39` and-45 respectively. Wvhen the parts are in the position shown,

the cam 45 and clutch 42 are held in what may be termed the disengaged position so that there is no connection between the shaft 4() and the right-hand'ribbon spool. To reverse the feed bar 44 is simply to move to the right (Fig. 3) so .thatthe shoulder 46 engages the cani 39 and tlisengages the left- 'hand clutch. At the same time the shoulder 47 is` feed from the cam and the right-hand clutch is brought into operative engagement. The reversal of feed may be accomplished in a simple andy convenient manner by means of the push rod '50 which extends through the front plate 51 of the machine and has an i ,of the spool. This latch is yieldingly held inposition by a spring 6I. The latch may Abe retracted by pressing upon the fingerpiece 62 so that the spool may be taken off. The upper end 63 of the latch is inclined so that a spool may be put in place by simply pressing it downon its shaft, the edge of the lower flange of the spool engaging the end 63 of the latch and retracting it. sutli' ciently to enable the ange to snap into place.

This application is a continuation of #664,760 filed December 9, 1911.

Vhat I claim is 1. In a typewriter ribbon operating mechanism, two spool shafts, a two-wrt driving shaft geared to each spool shaft, a clutch for connecting the parts of each driving shaft, an operating connectionbetween sald driving shafts, a shifting bar for operating said clutches and a rearwardly Iprojecting push rod having one end accessible at the front of the machine and having' its rear end beveled to engage the shifting bar for the purpose speciied.-

2. In 'a typewriter ribbon operating mechanism, a vertical spool shaft, a driving shaft formed in two parts, one part being geared to said sp'ool shaft, power means for rotating the other part of said shaft, a sliding clutch for connecting'the two parts of said shaft, a transversely` movable bar having a shoulder for 'moving said clutch and a rearwardly projecting push rod having a finger-piece at the frontend and an inclined shoulder at the rear engaging saidy bar for moving it.

3. In a typewriter ribbon operating mechanism, a .spool shaft, a two-part driving shaft having one part geared to saidspool shaft, a sleeve-like clutch for lconnecting th'e parts of said driving shaft, an annular cam lshoulder carried by said clutch and a transversely movable forked member for engaging said cam shoulder for moving said clutch member.

4, In a typewriter ribbon operating mechanism, a spool shaft, a two-part .driving shaft having one part geared to said spool shaft, a sleeve-like clutchl for connecting the parts 'of said driving' shaft, an annular c am shoulder carried by said clutch, a transversely movable .forked member for engaging said cam shoulder` for moving said clutch member and a rearwardly projecting push rod for .moving saidt'orlred member. c

G. In a typewriter ribbon operating mechanism, a tension drum, apawl carried 'thereby,a ratchet'to be driven by `said pawl, a

- two-part shaft having one part driven by said ratcbet,ga clutch for coni'iecting and disconnecting the parts of said shaft and a ribbon spool shaft geared to the other part of said two-part shaft. i

7. In a typewriter ribbon operating mechanism, a tension drum, a pawl carried thereby, a ratchet to be driven. by said pawl, a two-.part shaft having one part driven by said ratchet, a clutch for connecting and disconnecting the parts of said shaft, a ribbon spool shaft geared to the other part of said two-part shaft, a second spool shaft, a secoiid=two-part shaft4 and clutch and a driving connection between said two-part shafts.

8, In a typewriter ribbon operating mechanisln, a tension drum, a pawl carried thereby, a ratchet to be driven by said pawl, a two-part shaft having one part driven by said ratchet, a clutch for connecting and disconnecting the parts' of said shaft, a ribbon spool shaft geared to the other part of said two-part shaft, a second spool shaft, a second two-part shaft and clutch, a driving fconnection between said two-part shafts and a clutch operating member.

In a typewriter ribbon operating mechanism, ribbon'spool shafts, two-part shafts each having one-Apart geared to a spool shaft, a driving connection between .the other parts, a tension drum having apawl and ratchet connection with one of saidother parts, and clutches for connecting the parts of said shafts.

10. In a ty' ewriter ribbon operating mechanism, rib on spool shafts, two-part shafts each having one part geared to a spool shaft, a driving connection between Athe other parts, a tension drum having a pawl and ratchet connection with one of said other parte,vv clutches .for'connecting the parts of said shafts and atransversely movable bar for operating said clutches.

ll. In a ltypewriter ribbon' operating mechanism, ribbon spool shafts, two-part shafts each .having one part geared to a spool shaft, a driving connection between the other parts, aftension drum he .ing a' pawl and ratchet Iconnection with one of said other parts, clutches for connecting the parts ot said'shat't, a transversely movable bar for operating said clutches and a longitudinally movable push rod for operating said bar. v

12..In a typewriter ribbon operating mechanism, ribbon spool shafts, two-part shafts each having one part geared to a spool shaft, a driving connection between the other part. a tension drum having a pawl and, ratchet connection with one of said other parts, clutcnesfor connecting the parts of said shaft-s, a ribbon lifting guide and a key-operated universal bar for shifting lsaid guide.

JESSE ALEXANDER.

W'itnesses I DAVID M. EDSALL, L. REILLY. 

